Improvement in hollow grate-bars for furnaces



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Gr. S. NEVINS, OF BUSHNELL, ILLINOIS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 52JS9, dated January23, 1866.

To all 'zr-hom 1' t may concern:

Be it known that I, G. S. NEVINS, of Bushnell, in the county ofMcDonough and State of 1llinois,have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Grate-Bars and I do hereby declare that the following isa full,clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable othersskilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanyin g drawings, forming part of this specifica-tion, in which-Figure lis a plan of a furnace-grate made according to my invention.Fig. 2 is a detailed side view of one of the bars which form the grate,showing also the pipes which connect the grate with a water-tank orother source of supply and with the boiler. Fig. 3 is an end view of thegrate.

The object of this invention is to construct furnace-grates forsteam-boilers so that the several bars will be preserved from beingburned and warped by heat of the re and at the same time the feed-waterfor the boiler be made warm; and it consists in a peculiar and novelmethod of constructing hollow gratebars for that purpose.

The letters A designate hollow grate-bars, eight of them being in thisexample laid side by side, so as to form surface enough for a grate.Their ends are cast hollow, as indicated by the letter g, so that whenthey are laid together their ends form a tube which crosses the ends ofthe tubes made through the bars lengthwise. The bars have each flanges Oon their sides at their ends, which surround the openings g throughtheir ends, and which anges serve to separate the several bars laterallyone from the other to form the necessaryinterspaces for the supply ofair to the fire. WVhen the bars are in place these iianges touch eachother edge to edge, as seen in Fig. l. Each joint made by these iiangesis provided with av gasket, f, preferably of copper. Each alternategasket is a solid plate, except that it is perforated to receive thebinding-rod D, and serves to separate adjacent hollow spaces g in theends of the bars from each oth'er. The other gaskets are open, beingmade in shape and size to be counterparts of the continuous flanges Oaforesaid, so that the hollow spaces g in the ends of the bars whichthey are applied to are not separated,

but are allowed to communicate with each joints made by the head O andnut E are to be properly packed, so as to be steam-tight. Theextremities of the bars are made open and are closed by screw-plugs B,so that sediment can be removed from the bars whenever it is desired soto do. v

The bars are supplied with water through a supply-pipe, h, which leadsfrom the bottom of anysuitable reservoir, (not shown) and after ruimingthrough all the bars is led to the boiler through pipest' and j. Aforce-pump may be connected with one end of pipe j to force the waterinto the boiler, and the other end of pipej is connected to the top ofthe same reservoir from which pipe h is supplied. It is evident that thewater, which will ill the bar while the reservoir is kept supplied, willkeep the bars cool and prevent cinders from welding to and warping andburning up the bars, and that such water will be thoroughly heatedbefore reaching the boiler. It will be observed, also, that by thismethod of construction the bars are allowed to expand and contractwithout breaking their joints. The course of the water, if thesupply-pipe 7L is connected with that bar and corner of the grate markedwith the numeral l, will be first through the length of that bar to thespace g at its lefthand end, (observing Fig. 1,) thence into the space gof the next bar and through its length to its end, where it will passinto the third bar7 and so on through the whole congeries, the waterbeing permitted to flow freely and to ll all the bars, and therebyprevent the collection of steam in the ends of the bars and obviatingthe difculty of their blowing empty when the steam escapes into thereservoir. The feed-pipej is conducted from one of its ends to the topot' the reservoir, so that the hot water and steam which do not passinto the boiler are allowedI to run into the reservoir, whereby backpressure on the water in the supply-pipe h is avoided, and the bars arenot allowed to become lled with steam.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent- 1. In furnace and other grates, securing the ends oftheir bars together by means of rods passing through hollow spaces madethrough said bars, so as to allow the bars to expand and contractwithout breaking their joints, substantially as shown.

2. In tubular grates, placing a copper gasket between adj aeent bars,each alternate gashet fitting lclose about the rod which connects thebars to each other, so as to form a continuous water-course,substantially as shown.

l3. Connecting the discharging-pipe i of the grate with the top of thewate1reservoir,frorn which the hollow bars of the grate are suppliedwith water, so that steam and hot water may pass over into the reservoirwithout obstruction, preventing the bars from becoming filled with steamand being blown einpty, substantially as set forth.

G. S. NEVINS.

Witnesses ROBERT S. RANDALL, J. T. SANDERS.

